Yoggie internet security

by Marc

PC security is a tough subject to talk about. You can see people’s eyes glazing over as soon as you mention anti-spam and anti-virus software, and don’t even mention firewalls. Yoggie are trying to change this with the "personal security server".

This is a pretty cool concept. The USB stick actually houses a complete Linux based PC, complete with CPU, memory and security software. When you put Yoggie into your PC, it installs drivers that redirect all network traffic through the USB stick.

The CPU and software on the stick take care of checking your mails for spam and viruses and firewalling all network traffic. You can uninstall the anti-everything stuff from your PC, which has the handy effect of making it more responsive, and you offload all the security to the stick.

You also get web site filtering, parental control and just about everything else you’d need to keep your PC secure.

The great thing is that it’s fire-and-forget. You just plug it in and use the PC. Yoggie downloads it’s virus definition signatures automatically and stores them internally. No PC reboot required and no "keep your software up to date" nag screens. If you need control over the firewall you have it, but the default settings have been chosen to fit the needs of most people without configuration.

Street price is around the $100 mark and you get 3 years of security updates for that, which actually makes it comparable in price to software only security solutions.